1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to an exercise machine, and is particularly concerned with an exercise machine having a pivoting user support.
2. Related Art
A chest or pectoral (“pec”) fly exercise works the pectoral muscles, as well as the biceps and deltoid to a lesser extent. In a free weight pec fly exercise, the exerciser lies on a bench facing upwards with a weight in each hand, arms extended out to the side, and palms facing up, with the elbows bent. In the start position, the hands should be slightly below the shoulders. The exerciser then lifts the weights to bring the dumbbells together over their body with a slight arcing or elliptical pattern to the movement. Similar exercises are performed with the exerciser in a declined position on a downwardly reclined back rest, and in an inclined position on an upwardly inclined back rest, in order to carry out decline and incline pec fly exercises, involving different muscles in the chest.
Various exercise machines have been designed in order to duplicate one or more of the free weight, upper body exercises such as pec fly, rear deltoid, chest press, and mid row. Typically, these machines have pivoted arms linked to an exercise resistance. They often do not accurately duplicate the movements of a free weight pec fly exercise. This is particularly the case with machines that try to combine two or more of the free weight, upper body exercises, due to the differences between the exercise movements.
The earliest pec fly machine had two independent exercise arms pivotally mounted on a frame above the user's head. The arms were generally L-shaped with a pivot shaft attached to the end of one leg of the L and a pad or roller attached to the other leg. The user sat on a seat mounted on the frame with their upper arms parallel to the floor and forearms bent 90 degrees at the elbow. With their forearms resting against the pads, the user rotated their arms forward until they came together. Since the exercise arms had only one pivot, they could only move in a concentric or circular pattern, and the arms were non-adjustable for different users.
In prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,579,213 and 6,988,977 of Webber et al., and co-pending application Ser. No. 10/634,299 of Webber et al., filed Aug. 5, 2003, the contents of each of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, multi-pivot exercise arm assemblies are described which may be used in machines designed for performing various upper body exercises, including pectoral fly exercises. The exercise arm assembly in these prior patents and application has a main arm pivoted to a frame for pivoting about a first pivot axis, a swing arm pivoted to the main arm for pivoting about a second pivot axis, and a handle pivoted to the swing arm which pivots about a third pivot axis. This articulated motion allows the exerciser to perform a seated pec fly exercise in which the arms rotate forward in a more elliptical movement pattern, which more closely duplicates the natural movement of a free weight pec fly exercise.